Fabrizio Gollin: “The fight for the championship is going to be very interesting”
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Sep 15, 2007
Larbre to start crucial Silverstone 1000kms from third-in-class
Larbre Competition’s lead Aston Martin DBR9 will start Sunday’s crucial Le Mans Series round at Silverstone well placed on the GT1 grid following today’s qualifying session.
A lap of 1:45.897 by Christophe Bouchut was good enough for Car 50, which the Frenchman shares with Gabriele Gardel and Fabrizio Gollin, to take third on the GT1 grid. The lap means they will start the race ahead of the fellow title-chasing Luc Alphand Adventures Corvette C6-R and immediately behind the championship-leading Team Oreca Saleen S7, who qualified second. The Team Modena Aston Martin, who are not involved in the title race, took pole position.
Team Prinicpal Jack Leconte said: “We went for the conservative option in qualifying and ran with hard tyres, whereas I think Team Modena went for the softer compound. Bearing that in mind, it will be more indicative to see where we are running in relation to our rivals after the first hour of the race. The gap to the Saleen is the smallest it has been all season and that is good news because we must beat them on Sunday if we are to win the championship. ”
Christophe Bouchut: “It was a good session and our best qualifying position since the beginning of the season. We will work on the car in tomorrow’s warm up, because we can still improve through club and the second part of Becketts, which are two important corners where you can gain time. ”
Gabriele Gardel: “We’re very positive about the pace we have. We’ve improved significantly since Friday and Christophe did a very good lap in qualifying to be so close to Saleen. I think we are all very confident about this very important race. ”
Fabrizio Gollin: “The fight for the championship is going to be very interesting. We’re in a good position on the grid and that leaves us in with a great chance of victory in the race. We’re extremely focused, because we are so desperate to win the title, and if we don’t make any mistakes tomorrow we are in with a good chance. ”
Meanwhile, Steve Zacchia’s time of 1:47.228 saw Larbre’s second car, which he shares with Gregor Fisken ad Greg Franchi, qualify seventh on the GT1 grid.
Jack Leconte: “Qualifying was a great fight between Steve and Sebastien Dumez in the Corvette. They are great friends and it went back and forth between the two. Although Sebastien had the final word, we all enjoyed the battle. ”
Steve Zacchia: “Qualifying was good. I would have liked to have gone a bit quicker but I had some oversteer which made it difficult. However, it’s a very long race and so now we need to concentrate on perfecting our race set-up. ”
Gregor Fisken: “Steve’s lap was very good and we are much closer to the Corvette than we have been previously. We are all looking forward to Sunday’s race immensely. ”
Greg Franchi: “Our weekend didn’t start perfectly because we had some problems during Friday’s first session. However this morning we have found a good set-up and Steve did a great job in qualifying. We’ve reduced the gap to the other cars and I am very positive about tomorrow’s race. ”
